David Mach  (British, 1956) 

David Mach (Scottish, b.1956) is a sculptor and installation artist who uses found materials, such as magazines and mass-produced parts, to create 3-D sculptures to be displayed in public places. Mach studied at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art (now part of the University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland) from 1974 to 1979. He went on to attend the Royal College of Art in London from 1979 to 1982. Some of his works are political in nature, such as Polaris, a re-creation of a Polaris class submarine out of tires, used to show his contempt for the nuclear arms race. This piece is also famous for the incident that it incited: a member of the public who found it contentious tried to burn it down, but he himself was fatally burned in the attempt. Later, Mach turned to matchsticks and magazines to produce smaller-scale artworks. After accidentally setting fire to one of his matchstick sculptures, he now often burns these sculptures as Performance Art.

Mach has held several lecturer and professor positions since his graduation, beginning at Kingston University from 1982 to 1993 and the Contemporary Art Summer School in Japan from 1987 to 1991. Edinburgh College of Art appointed him as a visiting professor in 1999, and the Royal Academy of Schools in London followed suit, naming him a professor of sculpture in 2000. Although Mach's first solo exhibition was at the Lisson Gallery in London in 1982, he soon gained an international reputation with his solo and group exhibitions held in the United Kingdom and throughout the world.

Much of Mach’s work is commission-based, such as his Collage Portrait of Glasgow, commissioned by the Gallery of Modern Art of Glasgow and exhibited there as part of a major solo exhibition of his work since March 2002. Mach was awarded the Lord Provost's Prize in Glasgow in 1992, and was elected Royal Academician in 1998. He was also nominated for the Turner Prize at the Tate Gallery in 1988. He currently lives and works in London, and his 2011 solo exhibition, David Mach-Precious Light, can be seen at the City Arts Centre in Edinburgh. He is represented by Galerie Jerome de Noirmont of Paris.